Scalping

Bear in mind that it actually required a little self-restraint to keep from telling you about the Fourth of July scalping on South Highland Avenue. This particular scalping was not the kind one observes on the way to Camden Yards -- the secondhand selling of Orioles tickets above their original cost -- and the practice that only a players' strike could stop. Instead, the scalping to which I refer -- and, until now, have kept in the clip file marked "macabre" -- was a violent crime that occurred in Highlandtown.

It's safe to say that Ticketmaster doesn't have many fans. The service, which handles ticket sales for venues large and small across the nation, charges fees on its transactions that seem to bear little relationship to either the cost of the tickets or the actual work the company does. We completely sympathize, then, with the Baltimore concert-goer who took the company to court and successfully argued that its fees violate a 1948 Baltimore law limiting extra charges to 50 cents per ticket.

I CAN'T promise anything, but unless prosecutors in the Bluegrass State are completely mad, this should mark my last report on that silly Kentucky Derby ticket-scalping case involving James Casey, the Maryland horse doctor and trainer who spent several hours in a filthy Louisville jail for a minor offense that doesn't even carry jail as a penalty. To recap (if that's possible without getting a migraine): Casey went to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday of May 1999 and paid a scalper $100 each for three $42 Derby ducats.

A City Council committee approved a bill Thursday that would allow companies such as Ticketmaster to continue to charge unlimited fees in selling tickets to events in Baltimore. The council's finance committee voted 3-1 in favor of the bill, which would exempt Ticketmaster and other ticket sellers from Baltimore's long-standing anti-scalping law. If approved by the full council next month, the bill would allow the ticket-selling companies to continue to charge unlimited user, service and "convenience" fees.

WHAT WE HAVE HERE, once again, is a ticket scalping nightmare and, once again, I ask the question: Why do police waste their time on this stuff? In most of life, you buy something at a certain price and, if you don't use that certain something or don't need that certain something, then you try to sell it -- for more than the purchase price, assuming there's a demand -- and it's legal.It's supply and demand -- a basic economics lesson from Father Guido Sarducci's Twenty-Minute University.But when we get to tickets for rock concerts, major league baseball games and other big events that bring in gobs of money for their promoters, common sense and Father Guido's supply-and-demand lesson go out the door.

Back on the evening of April 26, a 33-year-old Baltimore businessman went outside Camden Yards to try to sell two extra O's tickets at face value -- $12 each. A hustler walked up and offered to broker the sale for him, but the offer was rejected. A few minutes later, the hustler returned, this time with a customer."Twenty dollars each," the fast-talking hustler announced."No," the businessman countered. "Only 12.""You're under arrest," the customer barked.The customer was an undercover cop, another of Baltimore's finest on dubious assignment at Oriole Park.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Consciousness was not the only thing raised when Tiger Woods won the Masters last year.As much attention as the record-breaking victory brought to a game, a tournament and a golf club long considered by many to be elitist, it also put the spotlight on another aspect of the Masters: The price and availability of tickets.Even before Woods came on the scene, tickets to the Masters had been called the toughest to get in sports. They are left in wills and have been part of divorce settlements, their number among the secrets held by the tight-lipped Augusta National membership.

Scoring last-minute tickets to an Orioles or Ravens game would be as easy as a stroll downtown under a bill introduced in the City Council yesterday that would lift a prohibition against reselling tickets within a mile of the Camden Yards sports complex. Supporters said they hope the measure would boost the Orioles' lagging attendance by making it easier for ticket holders to unload their extra tickets among the throngs of fans outside the park, rather than throwing them out and leaving seats empty.

Psssst! Wanna buy a ticket?The call of the ticket scalper would be silenced under a House bill that would bar scalping.Del. Leon Albin, a Baltimore County Democrat, said he was spurred to file the legislation when he heard about an incident last year in which someone who bought 100 Orioles tickets at $13 each sold them through a newspaper advertisement for $85 per ticket."

THANKS to an $850,000 grant from the General Assembly, the new Babe Ruth Baseball Center at the renovated Camden Station is inching toward reality. The question is what to do with the current museum site, the birthplace of the "Sultan of Swat" at 216 Emory Street?We respectfully submit the following idea. Since the Camden Station exhibit will render the Emory Street rowhouses redundant, why not turn them into a Babe Ruth Birthplace Bed and Breakfast?Incidentally, Peter Angelos' talk to a breakfast meeting of the Downtown Partnership yesterday was a big hit. Particularly during the question-and-answer period the Orioles owner proved to be both shrewd and candid.

By Luke Broadwater and Wesley Case, The Baltimore Sun | February 23, 2013

Musician Jackson Browne's managers were so excited when they heard Maryland's high court had struck down Ticketmaster's unpopular user fees in Baltimore that they promised free lifetime tickets to the city resident who had filed suit alleging he'd been ripped off by "exorbitant charges. " The Ravens, Orioles and Baltimore concert venues - along with city politicians - didn't share the singer's jubilation. Concerned that Ticketmaster and other ticket vendors might refuse to handle events in Baltimore, the City Council is poised to carve out an exception to its long-standing anti-scalping law, which bars companies from charging fees in excess of 50 cents on top of a ticket's stated price.

In a decision that could have implications for how show and sports tickets are sold in Baltimore, the state's highest court ruled Friday that service fees charged by Ticketmaster amount to scalping — setting up the possibility that people who attended some events might ultimately be eligible for refunds. The ruling, which stems from a class action lawsuit brought in federal court in 2011, relies on an obscure 1948 Baltimore ordinance rushed through the City Council to curb scalping of Navy football tickets.

The downtown tree removal for the Grand Prix was nothing, compared with what the city is doing now along Charles Street by the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus. Yet only a few voices have been raised in protest. Dozens of trees have been shorn of their leaves and limbs, and nearly 200 in all are apparently slated to come down in phases over the next year or so from 25th Street north to University Parkway. It'll be a whole new, open look for a particularly leafy stretch, at least until recently, of a corridor that has been designated a National Scenic Byway.

First, Karen McVearry spent $30 to join the Hannah Montana fan club and buy presale concert tickets for her 9-year-old daughter Maddie. Too late - they had sold out. The 36-year-old Catonsville mom tried again the day the tickets went on sale to the public. As Maddie played soccer, McVearry stood on the sidelines, a cell phone in each hand, calling Ticketmaster, while a friend also called and tried ordering online. Still too late. The Jan. 8 Hannah Montana show at 1st Mariner Arena sold out in minutes.

By Joe Graedon and Teresa Graedon and Joe Graedon and Teresa Graedon,PeoplesPharmacy.com | June 21, 2007

For several months now, I have had a problem with a scaly, flaky scalp. A doctor prescribed medicated shampoo and mometasone topical solution, but nothing worked. Then a friend suggested I try Miracle Whip. I rub it into my scalp and leave it in a couple of hours. It has worked wonders, and I now have a flake-free scalp. Any idea why? We checked the ingredients in Miracle Whip. They are: water, soybean oil, vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, modified food starch, egg yolks, salt, mustard flour, artificial color, potassium sorbate, spice, paprika, natural flavor and dried garlic.

Scoring last-minute tickets to an Orioles or Ravens game would be as easy as a stroll downtown under a bill introduced in the City Council yesterday that would lift a prohibition against reselling tickets within a mile of the Camden Yards sports complex. Supporters said they hope the measure would boost the Orioles' lagging attendance by making it easier for ticket holders to unload their extra tickets among the throngs of fans outside the park, rather than throwing them out and leaving seats empty.

Psssst! Wanna buy a ticket?The call of the ticket scalper would be silenced under a House bill that would bar scalping.Del. Leon Albin, a Baltimore County Democrat, said he was spurred to file the legislation when he heard about an incident last year in which someone who bought 100 Oriole tickets at $13 each sold them through a newspaper advertisement for $85 per ticket."

PROSECUTORS in Kentucky must have either a lot of time on their hands or egg on their faces. It's hard to tell exactly what's motivating them to continue their pursuit of Maryland horse doctor Jim Casey on that silly ticket scalping charge down there. But they're back at it. Casey is being pursued with Kenneth Starr-like tenacity. When will this madness end?Last month, a Louisville judge ruled that undercover police at the Kentucky Derby had no authority to arrest Casey for such a minor offense and should have only written him a citation, as if he were charged with speeding or "litterbugging."

Not so long ago when someone had tickets to a hot event - say, a big football game - and tried selling them for more than the face value, it was called scalping. And depending on where it was done, the scalper might get arrested or at least forfeit the tickets. Today, however, the same practice, depending on how it's done and who's doing it, goes by a far more flattering description. Now it's called the "secondary ticket market," and the home team - rather than frowning upon such business - is likely getting a slice of the action.

By Jon Traunfeld and Ellen Nibali and Jon Traunfeld and Ellen Nibali,Special to The Sun | August 26, 2006

A pesticide guy came to my door and said that he'd treated a house nearby for termites and that our neighborhood had a lot of insects. I haven't noticed any problems. Should I take his offer? The short answer is "no." Termites are native here and help us by disposing of dead wood and aerating the soil. They are present in all neighborhoods. Most houses will never have a problem with them. Big tree roots make mowing my lawn harder every year. It's impossible to ride the mower in some areas, not to mention the mower is slicing the top off roots, too. Can I cover those big roots with dirt or just cut them off?